Of Love and Confusion
by writingcracker
Summary: The day after the tent, as Hanna and Caleb explore their relationship. How can they handle their new-found love for each other? R&R please!
1. You are the best one

**Affair of the Heart: A Haleb Story**

**Chapter I**

Disclaimer: I do not own PLL. I wiish!

Author's note: this is from after episode 19 :) I did not like the breakup, so yeah...

_Hanna POV_

Caleb was sitting on the kitchen counter, waiting for me downstairs. That much I knew, as I nervously fiddled about with my mascara. The fact of the matter, is that Caleb and I were official, but at the same time, not _official_. No-one else knew about us, and the forest, and the tent. I didn't exactly tell the girls - yet.

I stared at my reflection, making sure my mascara did not leave a trace where it was not supposed to. I couldn't help but notice all the negative features in my face, insecurities bottling up inside me again.

_Come on, _I thought to myself. _This is Caleb._ There was no way I could be nervous around _Caleb_. Only afraid of the fact that he now makes me weak to my knees.

I nodded to myself, indicating my mind that I was ready to go. If only my legs responded. I forced myself out of the bathroom, and dragged my feet heavily from tile to tile. He heard me walk, as he was now waiting for me at the bottom of the stair-case, giving me his best smirk.

I smiled back, immediately feeling the familiar weakness in my knees.

"Hello," he greeted in his husky, low voice, smiling broader. I immediately bent over and kissed him- I couldn't exactly _stop_ myself.

And it wasn't a quick peck, either. Our lips gently synchronized, and the descriptions for this was endless: strong, yet elegant. Fast, yet passionate.

We only stopped when we both needed air, which was, thankfully, at the same time. We bent, touching each-other's foreheads, just staring at one another and content to do so.

_I'm in love, _ I simply thought. I surprised myself, though. A year and forty pounds ago, I would have never imagined myself falling for the bad boy. But Caleb wasn't a bad boy- he was a boy who'd been through a lot, that's all.

My mom cleared her throat behind us. _Awkward, _I thought, closing my eyes.

We separated from our embrace. "Good morning, Ms. Marin," Caleb spoke kindly.

"Ashley." she corrected him, a slight smile and nod.

Caleb beamed. He could be so sweet.

"I do believe I have to get to work," she hinted for us to step aside.

"Right," I muttered, staring at the floor. Me and my mom haven't talked that much since I reminded her of the difficult time in her life.

However, before stepping out, she gave me a peck on my forehead. "I love you." she said. Only then did she walk out.

I held Caleb's hand as I made my way to the kitchen. "So, what are you hungry for?" I asked, opening the fridge. I loved the atmosphere in the house of a Sunday morning.

"You," he simply said. I blushed, and he noticed. As I grabbed the milk out of the fridge, he hugged me from the back and started kissing my neck. I let out a giggle, and I could feel his smile as he kissed, closer to my cheek. It took to long, so I spun around and kissed him again.

A few minutes later, we were lying on the couch, his head resting on my laps. I simply stared, lost in his eyes. This was interrupted by his voice. As he spoke, my heart dropped.

_Caleb POV_

_Why am I telling her this?_ I thought to myself. _Right, _I answered my rhetorical question. _Because I'm in love._

I could see the tears coming from the corner of her eyes, and wanted to hug her, right here and right then. But I could not gather my strengths, and instead abruptly rose and ran up the stairs. I locked myself in her bathroom, razor in my pocket. I could hear her come up the stairs. I made sure I locked it, and proceeded. I unbolted the blades of the razor, and as my hand shook, I ran the blade along my wrist, and flinched as the blood drooled from the wound being formed.

"Caleb?" I heard a knock on the door, then saw the knob twist. "Caleb, please open-" she cut short. "It's just me." she said.

I felt a single tear on my cheek, and carried on. I must've been pretty stupid, because she had an extra key to the bathroom. As she opened the door slowly, she caught sight of my arm, and swung the door open. "Caleb," she muttered, walking towards me.

I couldn't say anything. I didn't know what to say. I simply watched as she healed my wound, wrapping it in band-aid. As she did so, my eyes wandered around the room, and stopped on her arm. She had several scars.

"Hanna," I muttered, closing my eyes. I was so stupid.

She clearly knew what I was talking about. "You're going to be fine."

When she was done, silence fell. Neither one of us knew what to do, so I motioned first, and cupped her sweet face with my hands.

"I love you." I murmured, and before she could respond, I kissed her.

She didn't hesitate to kiss back. It must've been minutes, but felt for hours.

"You don't need to try so hard to say goodbye," she told me.

"I'm not leaving you." I replied. And it was true- I had no intention to walk out.

She rose. "Well," she declared, "I think we need fresh air."

She held her hand out, and I didn't scruple to take it. We walked out of the bathroom, hand in hand.

Our plan was to visit the mall. Even if it was my least favorite place in the whole word, at least I was with Hanna. That's all I could ask for. When we entered the wretched place, the image I had feared came into my head.

_****************************** Flashback ****************************_

"_Mom, mom can I go on the shark?" I asked impatiently, staring at the paying toy. "Please please please," I repeated. Since she didn't answer, I kept going. "Please, please, PLEASE, mom!"_

_She finally swung her head at me, a death stare across her face._

"_SHUT IT!"_

_I gulped, and stared at the floor. "Okay," I murmured._

_****************************** End of Flashback ****************************_

"You OK?" Hanna asked, squeezing my hand. I forced a smile. "Yeah, I'm fine."

I groaned as I saw her friend, (Mona, Monique?) approach.

"Hey, Mona." Hanna greeted.

"Woah, what's up with the beauty and the beast theme?", she questioned, eye-balling me.

"_Mona," _I emphasized, putting on my best homosexual tone. "I didn't think you'd make it today. It's pretty windy."

Hanna chuckled, squeezing my hand. Mona had the death stare, and grunted as she walked away.

"Nice," applauded Hanna. "Very nice."

She was still chuckling as her phone beeped, and she bent down to check it. I watched as her face changed color, and she abruptly let go of my hand.

_Hanna POV_

_Looks like mother got a little incident at work. -A_

_What was A talking about? _I thought. I realized Caleb was looking at me oddly, and I forced myself to smile. "Nothing," I answered.

"I never believe your broken smile anyway," he winked. "What's going on?"

This was the first time in my life that somebody had actually noticed that my smile was fake. That not everything was the truth. That, inside, I was scared stiff about what life was planning for me.

"Something is up with my mom…" I whispered, dialing on my phone. He watched me call her.

"_Hello?" _answered my mom.

"Mom," I said, relieved. "is everything okay?"

"_Hanna," _she hesitated. "_have you been… shoplifting again?"_

"What? No!" I responded, taken aback.

"_The police is checking the house. Some stores have missing items and they need to make sure it wasn't you."_

"But mom, it wasn't!"

The phone clicked, and I realized she hung up. "Jesus Christ," I muttered.


	2. Maybe it's time

Thanks for the review guys, can I get a little more feedback though? I kinda hesitated to continue...

Disclaimer: blah blah blah I don't own PLL, nor Hanna or Caleb (or his amazing hotness).

Chapter II

_Caleb POV_

I worried about her… is that weird? She kept walking, staring at her phone and texting.

I cleared my throat.

"So, how about we get some… ice-cream?" I grinned. She looked up at the random suggestion, and chuckled. "Sure."

A sudden realization came to me as I checked my wallet. I stopped walking.

"Are you okay?" Hanna asked, concerned. I gave a blank smile. "Yeah, I just… forgot my money. I was sure I brought it with me."

I could see she was not buying my response. "Look," she said. "I'll just use my card."

She hesitated, before adding "I know you don't have that much money."

_Ouch, _I thought. She was right though.

"So what did your mom say?" I changed the subject. Seemed like she wanted to change it as well. "Oh nothing. So where's that ice-cream bar?"

_Hanna POV_

_Should I tell him? _A part of me said I should, but there was always the part that made more sense to me. But the two sides were always annoying anyways; where did the other side exist when Alison was bossing her around?

"Actually, can we just go home? I'd like to talk."

A look of confusion crossed his face. "Talk about what?"

Hanna sighed. "I just have to tell you something."


	3. Do listen

Chapter III

_Author's Note: _**Thanks guys, it means a lot :) **

_Disclaimer: _**Pretty Little Liars is ****not mine.**** Only Caleb's abs. Just sayin'.**

Caleb POV

I bit my lip as we entered the house. Had she found out about Jenna? About him? He winced at the thought. Hanna took a deep breath.

"Take a seat," she semi-instructed. I nodded, and grinned to relieve the tension- which didn't work.

"I just wanted to talk about _us_," she began. "Whatever we _are_." she added. I was more confused than ever. Was she breaking up with me?

Listening to myself, I asked her. "No," she replied immediately. "Are we even…?"

I raised my eyebrow, pursing my lips.

"Forget it. Okay, so I'm going to explain some…_ things_," she hesitated, "and it's important that you don't interrupt me until I'm done."

I nodded. "This isn't an amusing story. Your response can't contain any sarcasm whatsoever, or that smirk you give me." she added under her breath.

I smirked, and she nodded. "That one."

She cleared her throat, and began. "I come from a broken family. My dad left, my self-esteem hit rock bottom, and I can't sleep at night. I can't sleep at night, because…" she paused. She was deep in her thoughts, and continued. "Because of 'A'."

I was puzzled, but obeyed her by not interrupting.

"'A' scares me shitless," she half-smiled. "I don't know how long I'll last until 'B' and 'C' show up, but for now… 'A' has something on me. So I have to, basically, do what they say. I'm trying to not… listen to the bitch, but last time I didn't, she kind of… hit me with her car."

Okay, she was officially scaring me. But I had to let her finish.

"I can't tell you any more about 'A', mostly because you'll be in danger too. And I sure as hell don't want that, because…" she didn't finish. I wondered wether she was going to admit that she was maybe falling for me, but she didn't say a word.

"I'm done." she said simply.

I took a deep breath, and intertwined my fingers in hers. I knew I couldn't say anything about this 'A', because I never knew that they were onto her too. My left and right conscience battled over what my next action to me, but I _knew_ that if I didn't tell Jenna, Hanna wouldn't be safe. So I did the most casual thing ever, and grabbed my iPod out of my pocket. I gave her an earphone, and played the music.

As I stood up, I offered her my hand. She didn't hesitate to take it.

We slow-danced to Lionel Richie. As she rested on the crack of my neck, I realized that this girl, right there, the beautiful, sarcastic and broken girl was my top priority. Therefore, I had to tell Jenna.


End file.
